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- Russia plans immediate 'counter-measures' after US ejects 35 diplomats
- Syria ceasefire appears to hold after rivals sign Russia-backed deal
- After 130 years of obscurity, Myanmar's forgotten royals make a comeback
- Man wrongly arrested over Berlin attack says he fears for his life
- ‘Superstition’ prevents action against children drowning in Bangladesh
- Breitbart's Milo Yiannopoulos claims lucrative deal struck for autobiography
- A good year for Xi Jinping – but trouble is heading his way
- 'They throw you into a hole': celebrated Turkish novelist reveals detention ordeal
- Debbie Reynolds dies one day after daughter Carrie Fisher
- US military says Mosul airstrike may have killed civilians at hospital
- Body found in burnt-out car in Rio 'believed to be Greek ambassador'
- Sikh campaigners seek release of UK files on Golden Temple assault
- Egypt's government approves deal to hand islands to Saudi Arabia
- Brother of murdered JonBenét Ramsey sues CBS for $750m
- Margaret Thatcher's resignation shocked politicians in US and USSR, files show
- Eyewitness: Bijie, China
- Nepalese women offer up food for thought in the Story Kitchen | Liz Ford
- Obama expels 35 Russian diplomats in retaliation for US election hacking
- The great outdoors: readers share their best weather photos from 2016
- Pentecostal church looks to white Britons to boost congregations
- Kidnapping, reverse ransom and a bounty: the strange case of Sherri Papini
- Former Argentina president faces fresh inquiry into bombing cover-up claims
- Father hugs man accused of Christmas Day crash that killed his son
- Learner drivers to be allowed on motorways under training shakeup
- New Zealand police search for six-year-old girl and father missing at sea for two weeks
- Nobel laureates warn Aung San Suu Kyi over 'ethnic cleansing' of Rohingya
- Spaniards press for EEC link – archive, 30 December 1966
- The death of Rasputin - December, 1916
- Why Russia-brokered Syrian ceasefire has chance of succeeding
- Britain’s responsibility for refugee children | Letters
- Pearl Harbor’s role in the fall of the British empire | Letters
- Japanese defence minister's visit to Yasukuni war shrine draws criticism – video
- Tunisian man released after Berlin truck attack arrest
- Putin announces Syrian ceasefire between Assad government and rebel fighters – video
- Best photographs of the day: a rare baby giraffe and Paris from the sky
- Rare Rothschild's giraffe born at Chester zoo on Boxing Day
- Story of woman held captive in UK 'shows how real slavery is'
- Girl denied a horse is udderly charmed by bareback cow jumping instead
- Rodrigo Duterte threatens to throw corrupt officials from helicopter – video
- 'Walking buses' and council housing: a wishlist for world cities in 2017
- The year's top development stories: 2016 in review
- View from the favelas: 'The situation of instability haunts the lives of thousands' | Michel Silva
- A visão das favelas: 'A instabilidade no Rio assombra a vida de milhares de pessoas' | Michel Silva
| Russia plans immediate 'counter-measures' after US ejects 35 diplomats Posted: 30 Dec 2016 01:07 AM PST Foreign ministry spokeswoman attacks 'losers' of outgoing Obama administration and says plans will be announced on Friday Russia is planning an immediate response to the US decision to kick 35 Russian diplomats out of the country with its own "counter-measures". The foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, wrote on Facebook overnight that Russia would announce its own measures during the day. She launched a stinging attack on the outgoing Obama administration, which she called "foreign policy losers". Continue reading... |
| Syria ceasefire appears to hold after rivals sign Russia-backed deal Posted: 29 Dec 2016 11:47 PM PST Despite some early clashes, all sides say they hope this time the pact will hold in the run-up to talks in Kazakhstan that could lay out path to peace A ceasefire has come into effect across Syria after the Assad regime and the opposition agreed to a nationwide deal brokered by Turkey and Russia. It is hoped the fragile pact could mark a key turning point and usher in peace talks aimed at bringing an end to the six-year conflict that has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of Syria's population. The deal came into force at midnight (10pm GMT) on Thursday and appeared to be holding early on Friday after reports of clashes early on. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said rebels had violated the truce deal and taken over a position in Hama province, while a rebel group also accused the government of shelling areas in Atshan and Skeik villages in Idlib province, which borders Hama. By morning, though, calm prevailed in the areas included in the deal, according to monitors. Continue reading... |
| After 130 years of obscurity, Myanmar's forgotten royals make a comeback Posted: 29 Dec 2016 04:40 PM PST The descendants of exiled King Thibaw sense a revival and hope to bring his body home a century after he died in India Soe Win has never lived in a palace or held court, and his previous job was managing Myanmar's under-19s football team. "Sometimes we forget that we are royal family members," said the great-grandson to the country's last king, Thibaw, who has spent his life as the heir to the millennium-old Burmese monarchy. Continue reading... |
| Man wrongly arrested over Berlin attack says he fears for his life Posted: 29 Dec 2016 06:00 AM PST Exclusive: Naveed Baloch says he was tied up, blindfolded and slapped by police after being held 'because he ran across road' Naveed Baloch was crossing a road in central Berlin on the evening of 19 December, having just left a friend's house. He was halfway over it when, seeing a car heading towards him, he increased his speed. "I then realised it was a police car. I stopped when they beckoned to me, and showed them all the ID I had on me." They let him go but within seconds had called him back. Before he knew it he was in the back of the car, its lights flashing as it sped through Berlin. His hands were bound behind his back. Later that night, he said, he was blindfolded and taken from "one police station to another place" about 10 minutes away. He recalls two police officers "digging the heels of their shoes into my feet", and one of the men "putting great pressure on my neck with his hand". Continue reading... |
| ‘Superstition’ prevents action against children drowning in Bangladesh Posted: 29 Dec 2016 09:00 PM PST 18,000 children under the age of 18 drown every year, but study finds moves to curb the deaths are stymied by view of the fatalities as 'God's will' The lives of thousands of children who drown in Bangladesh every year could be saved by encouraging people to put aside superstitions that view the deaths as "God's will", a study has found. Drownings have become the leading cause of death in children under the age of 18, numbering around 18,000 a year since 2005, yet such deaths are preventable, according to researchers from the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh. Continue reading... |
| Breitbart's Milo Yiannopoulos claims lucrative deal struck for autobiography Posted: 29 Dec 2016 08:40 PM PST "Alt-right" figure says he will write for Simon & Schuster's conservative imprint, though previous book announcements have not materialised Milo Yiannopoulos, a prominent Donald Trump supporter and member of the so-called "alt-right" movement, has reportedly been offered US$250,000 for his first book. The book is due to be published by the Threshold Editions imprint of Simon & Schuster and would be autobiographical, reported the Hollywood Reporter on Thursday. Continue reading... |
| A good year for Xi Jinping – but trouble is heading his way Posted: 29 Dec 2016 07:00 PM PST After domestic victories in 2016, China's president must deal with a worsening economy and Trump in the White House In his 2016 new year message the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, promised his 1.3 billion citizens that the coming 12 months would be a time of "openness and sharing". "The future is encouraging and inspiring," Xi enthused in his upbeat annual address. Continue reading... |
| 'They throw you into a hole': celebrated Turkish novelist reveals detention ordeal Posted: 29 Dec 2016 06:11 PM PST Asli Erdoğan bursts into tears as she describes spending 132 days in an Istanbul prison on account of her links to pro-Kurdish newspaper Asli Erdoğan, one of Turkey's most celebrated novelists, was released from jail Thursday, looking exhausted after 132 days of pre-trial detention, declaring that she could barely believe she was free. The writer has been in prison on charges of terror propaganda on account of her links to a pro-Kurdish newspaper, in a case that has caused an international outcry over freedom of expression. Continue reading... |
| Debbie Reynolds dies one day after daughter Carrie Fisher Posted: 29 Dec 2016 07:54 AM PST Oscar-nominated star told her son 'that she would like to be with Carrie again', 15 minutes before she had a severe stroke Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds has died aged 84, just one day after the death of her daughter, famed actor and author Carrie Fisher. Her death was confirmed by her son, Todd Fisher. Continue reading... |
| US military says Mosul airstrike may have killed civilians at hospital Posted: 29 Dec 2016 11:17 AM PST
An airstrike by the US-led coalition operating against Islamic State militants near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul hit a van in a hospital compound parking lot and may have killed civilians, the US military said on Thursday. Related: 'A more dangerous long-term threat': Al-Qaida grows as Isis retreats Continue reading... |
| Body found in burnt-out car in Rio 'believed to be Greek ambassador' Posted: 29 Dec 2016 04:23 PM PST Kyriakos Amiridis last seen on Monday and licence plates on the car match his rental vehicle, according to reports Brazilian police suspect a body discovered inside a charred vehicle in Rio de Janeiro is Greece's ambassador to Brazil who went missing three days ago, it has been reported. A police spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment on the report by TV channel Globo. Continue reading... |
| Sikh campaigners seek release of UK files on Golden Temple assault Posted: 28 Dec 2016 10:00 PM PST Indian government's attempt to clear militants from Sikh religion's holiest site in 1984 resulted in hundreds being killed Secret government files said to hold details of British involvement in an assault on Sikhism's holiest shrine that killed hundreds of people should be released to the public, campaigners have urged. Members of the Sikh Federation believe the documents will show there was a greater level of cooperation between the British and Indian governments over the latter's attempts to clear militants from the Golden Temple in the summer of 1984 than has previously been acknowledged. Continue reading... |
| Egypt's government approves deal to hand islands to Saudi Arabia Posted: 29 Dec 2016 10:30 AM PST Opponents express anger that plan to give up control of Red Sea islands has been sent to parliament before final court ruling Egypt's government has approved a deal to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia and sent it to parliament for ratification, despite a legal dispute over the plan, according to state television. The deal, announced in April, caused public uproar and protests by Egyptians who said the uninhabited islands of Tiran and Sanafir belonged to their country. Continue reading... |
| Brother of murdered JonBenét Ramsey sues CBS for $750m Posted: 29 Dec 2016 03:28 AM PST Burke Ramsey, 29, claims TV network, production company and experts conspired to defame him for profit The older brother of JonBenét Ramsey is suing the US television network CBS and others for $750m (£610m), saying his reputation was ruined after a television series concluded he killed his six-year-old sister two decades ago. In the lawsuit filed on Wednesday, Burke Ramsey, 29, claims the network, its production company and the experts interviewed in the series on the unsolved murder conspired to defame him for publicity and profit. The series, called The Case of JonBenét Ramsey, aired in September ahead of the 20th anniversary of JonBenét's death. Continue reading... |
| Margaret Thatcher's resignation shocked politicians in US and USSR, files show Posted: 29 Dec 2016 11:30 PM PST Emotional Henry Kissinger called to say it was 'worse than a death in the family' and Soviet ambassador reported consternation Margaret Thatcher's resignation as British prime minister provoked tears in Washington and consternation in Moscow, according to a secret Downing Street file released on Friday. Henry Kissinger rang Downing Street "in a very emotional state" saying her decision to resign was "worse than a death in the family", while Thatcher's closest adviser, Charles Powell, told the US national security adviser, General Brent Scowcroft, that her departure was "a sad commentary on standards of loyalty in politics". Continue reading... |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2016 02:00 AM PST Photographs from the Eyewitness series Continue reading... |
| Nepalese women offer up food for thought in the Story Kitchen | Liz Ford Posted: 30 Dec 2016 01:00 AM PST A project enabling women to give their side of Nepal's history has a key role to play in the truth and reconciliation commission's inquiries into civil war abuses Jaya Luintel has a vision: to see the history of Nepal retold through the eyes of women. The Story Kitchen, a project she helped set up, aims to do just that. The initiative uses community radio and workshops to offer an outlet for women to tell their life stories, particularly their experiences during the country's decade-long civil war. Continue reading... |
| Obama expels 35 Russian diplomats in retaliation for US election hacking Posted: 29 Dec 2016 11:47 PM PST
The Obama administration on Thursday announced its retaliation for Russian efforts to interfere with the US presidential election, ordering sweeping new sanctions that included the expulsion of 35 Russians. Related: Syrian rivals sign ceasefire deal backed by Russia Continue reading... |
| The great outdoors: readers share their best weather photos from 2016 Posted: 30 Dec 2016 01:00 AM PST Whether frightful, fair or fantastic, you've been sharing your most striking weather photos every month of the year. Here is a pick of the best of them It's been a another stunning year for weather photography and readers have been sharing their most striking shots throughout the year from across the world. From bitterly cold winter scenes to sunlit beach memories, here's a selection of the landscapes you've enjoyed capturing this year. Continue reading... |
| Pentecostal church looks to white Britons to boost congregations Posted: 29 Dec 2016 11:00 PM PST Redeemed Christian Church of God is on 'reverse mission' to spread word in UK and plans to open another 100 churches The UK's biggest and fastest growing Pentecostal church is embarking on an ambitious expansion programme in 2017, in part aimed at attracting white Britons to join its black majority congregations. The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), which already has almost 800 places of worship in the UK, plans to open another 100 next year, according to one of its leading pastors. |
| Kidnapping, reverse ransom and a bounty: the strange case of Sherri Papini Posted: 30 Dec 2016 12:00 AM PST Many questions have been asked about the woman who was thrust into an extraordinary and grueling circumstance, but with few answers forthcoming Sherri Papini went missing one afternoon in early November while jogging in the woods near Redding, in northern California, leaving behind her cellphone, a pair of ear buds and some strands of blond hair. Three weeks later, on Thanksgiving morning, she was tipped out of a car in Yolo County, 150 miles to the south, showing signs of having been starved, beaten and branded by assailants who never communicated what they wanted. Continue reading... |
| Former Argentina president faces fresh inquiry into bombing cover-up claims Posted: 29 Dec 2016 07:45 PM PST Prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead in 2015 after accusing Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of hiding alleged involvement of Iranians in 1994 attack An Argentinian court on Thursday ordered a renewed investigation into a prosecutor's accusation that former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner covered up the alleged involvement of Iranians in a bombing that killed 85 people. The attack on a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994 wounded hundreds of others. Continue reading... |
| Father hugs man accused of Christmas Day crash that killed his son Posted: 29 Dec 2016 11:49 PM PST Josiah Sisson, 9, died two days after being hit by an out-of-control car on Christmas Day A father whose son was fatally struck by an out-of-control car on Christmas Day has embraced the driver allegedly responsible during an emotional encounter at a church service in Brisbane. Josiah Sisson, 9, was viewing Christmas lights with his family in Springwood, south of Brisbane, on Sunday evening, when a car failed to make a nearby turn. Continue reading... |
| Learner drivers to be allowed on motorways under training shakeup Posted: 30 Dec 2016 01:30 AM PST Plans for instructors to take 'competent' trainees on UK's fastest roads in dual-controlled cars backed by road safety groups Learner drivers will be allowed to practise on motorways for the first time under government plans to improve road safety. Under current rules, drivers are permitted on motorways only after they have passed their test, though there is no mandatory training for the 70mph roads. Continue reading... |
| New Zealand police search for six-year-old girl and father missing at sea for two weeks Posted: 29 Dec 2016 09:30 PM PST Pair left North Island on 21ft catamaran and there are fears the father could be trying to reach Australia A huge sea search is underway off the coast of New Zealand for a six-year-old girl and her father who have disappeared after setting out on a catamaran nearly two weeks ago. Police have said they hold grave concerns for the safety of Que Langdon, who departed with her father, Alan, on 17 December from the North Island in a 21ft (6.4-metre) white catamaran. Continue reading... |
| Nobel laureates warn Aung San Suu Kyi over 'ethnic cleansing' of Rohingya Posted: 29 Dec 2016 09:12 PM PST Letter says Myanmar's leader and peace prize winner has failed to act as 'grossly disproportionate' crackdown on minority Muslim group kills hundreds More than a dozen fellow Nobel laureates have criticised Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de facto leader, for a bloody military crackdown on minority Rohingya people, warning of a tragedy "amounting to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity". Related: Burmese military killed seven of my children, says Rohingya refugee Continue reading... |
| Spaniards press for EEC link – archive, 30 December 1966 Posted: 29 Dec 2016 09:00 PM PST 30 December 1966: Spain wants integration with Europe both on political grounds and for economic reasons because they consider it essential to the country's development Geneva, December 29 Trade unions and Socialist parties in the Common Market have so far been opposed to EEC association with Franco's Spain; and in the EEC Council of Ministers, it is Holland and Belgium which have held out against negotiations on political grounds. Continue reading... |
| The death of Rasputin - December, 1916 Posted: 29 Dec 2016 05:00 PM PST How the Guardian and Observer reported the death of Grigori Rasputin, the Russian mystic who exerted a powerful influence over the Romanov royal family One hundred years ago on 30 December 1916, Grigori Rasputin, the Russian mystic who became a confidant of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, was brutally killed. After supposedly being poisoned, shot and beaten, he was thrown into the freezing waters of St. Petersburg's Neva River by aristocrats fearful of the influence he wielded over the Romanov court. The death of the 'notoriously evil' monk was reported in the Manchester Guardian on 3 January 1917, while the following day, amidst all the news about the war in Europe, it was noted that Russia could now breathe more freely. Continue reading... |
| Why Russia-brokered Syrian ceasefire has chance of succeeding Posted: 29 Dec 2016 10:36 AM PST Nothing is ever certain, but in the case of Syria peace drive Moscow is at centre of decision making while US is out in the cold Labelled an international pariah only months ago by Boris Johnson, and warned he would be stuck in a Syrian quagmire by a patronising Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin ends 2016 if not as the undisputed victor, then at least as the man at the centre of decision making. It is Moscow and not Washington that is calling the shots in the Middle East. Continue reading... |
| Britain’s responsibility for refugee children | Letters Posted: 29 Dec 2016 10:26 AM PST As Lord Dubs has himself reflected (A hostile Europe may turn its back on child refugees, says Labour peer, 29 December), he was just one of a handful of children who were able to gain access to the UK in the late 1930s. In common with, for example, the Oxford geochronologist Professor Stephen Moorbath and actor Andrew Sachs, both of whom have died in recent months, Alf Dubs has contributed hugely to the life and welfare of the UK and all those who made their way here in flight from murder by the Third Reich went on to establish personal, family and professional lives and, as a scientific colleague said at Stephen Moorbath's funeral, have repaid their refuge in the UK many times over. Can it really be the case that 85,000 unaccompanied, traumatised and distressed children are going to be kicked from pillar to post, spurned, left to drift, vulnerable to sexual exploitation, childhoods for ever lost? The UK government has made a pathetic token gesture and allowed in a tiny number. Now the gates are bolted shut and gatekeeper May is devoid of compassion. |
| Pearl Harbor’s role in the fall of the British empire | Letters Posted: 29 Dec 2016 10:26 AM PST The pictures of President Obama and the prime minister of Japan, Shinzō Abe, standing side by side to commemorate the attack on Pearl Harbor 75 years ago (Obama and Abe in historic joint visit to Pearl Harbor, 28 December) has me wondering how many people are aware that two momentous attacks – not one – took place in the Pacific on 7/8 December 1941 (the actual date of the strike on Pearl Harbor). One hour earlier, in real time, Japanese transport ships began landing troops on the east coast of Malaya, prior to overrunning the peninsula and capturing the "impregnable" British bastion of Singapore 10 short weeks later. The anniversary of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought America into the European war, is thus also the anniversary of the first strike in the unravelling of the British empire in east Asia. The reason the US fleet was deliberately attacked by the Japanese was to prevent its warships and aircraft from coming to the aid of the British colony, which had virtually no air defences. The dramatic devastation at Pearl Harbor was immediately blazoned across press billboards back in England – at the same time as a blanket of silence descended on the alarming news of the concurrent Japanese invasion of Malaya. That silence has remained in place pretty well ever since and, with it, the mutual dependence of these two momentous events – both in time and intent – has almost been lost to public consciousness. It's high time this fudge of history was corrected. |
| Japanese defence minister's visit to Yasukuni war shrine draws criticism – video Posted: 29 Dec 2016 08:15 AM PST South Korean and Chinese officials voice their anger over the visit of Japanese defence minister Tomomi Inada to the Yasukuni war shrine. A South Korean official describes it as 'beyond deplorable'. Yasukuni enshrines the souls of almost 2.5 million Japanese soldiers, but controversially includes more than 1,000 war criminals. Inada says regardless of historical view we should be able to show 'respect for those who sacrificed their lives for their country' |
| Tunisian man released after Berlin truck attack arrest Posted: 29 Dec 2016 07:27 AM PST Investigators say 40-year-old was not in contact with main suspect Anis Amri before attack on Christmas market A Tunisian man detained on suspicion of involvement in last week's Berlin truck attack has been released after investigators determined that he was not in contact with the main suspect immediately before the rampage. The 40-year-old was detained in Berlin on Wednesday. Federal prosecutors said at the time that his telephone number was saved in Anis Amri's mobile and they suspected he might have been involved. Continue reading... |
| Putin announces Syrian ceasefire between Assad government and rebel fighters – video Posted: 29 Dec 2016 06:30 AM PST Russian president Vladimir Putin says a ceasefire has been agreed between the Assad government and armed Syrian opposition. Putin delivers the news during a televised meeting on Thursday, that three documents have been signed: a ceasefire agreement, control measures to be adopted, and a statement of intent to begin negotiations on a political end to the conflict |
| Best photographs of the day: a rare baby giraffe and Paris from the sky Posted: 29 Dec 2016 06:02 AM PST The Guardian's picture editors bring you a choice of photo highlights from around the world, including a rare Rothschild's giraffe calf in the UK and Paris from the sky Continue reading... |
| Rare Rothschild's giraffe born at Chester zoo on Boxing Day Posted: 29 Dec 2016 04:38 AM PST Calf, which is yet to be sexed or named, is one of most endangered subspecies of giraffe, with fewer than 1,600 in wild A rare and endangered Rothschild's giraffe has been born at Chester zoo. Keepers said the 1.82-metre (6ft) calf, which is yet to be sexed or named, arrived to first-time mother Tula and father Meru at about 7am on Boxing Day and was up on its feet just minutes later. |
| Story of woman held captive in UK 'shows how real slavery is' Posted: 29 Dec 2016 02:55 AM PST UK anti-slavery commissioner says account by woman enslaved for 13 years shows issue is not something 'happening miles away' The UK's first independent anti-slavery commissioner has said people need to have a much more open mind regarding who might be a modern-day slave, after a British woman told of how she was enslaved for 13 years. In a new book called Secret Slave, the 44-year-old woman, who uses the pseudonym Anna Ruston, writes about meeting a taxi driver, whom she calls Malik, in 1987, when she was just 15. She claims Malik held her captive in his family home and subjected her to sadistic sexual and psychological abuse for more than a decade, beating and raping her and selling the four babies she had in captivity. Continue reading... |
| Girl denied a horse is udderly charmed by bareback cow jumping instead Posted: 29 Dec 2016 02:49 AM PST Heifer Lilac can now leap obstacles, run and go for river swims after seven years of loving tuition from New Zealand teenager When 11-year-old Hannah Simpson was told she couldn't have a horse because it was too expensive, she decided to jump on the next best thing instead – a dairy cow. Now 18, Simpson and her seven-year-old Swiss Brown "best friend" Lilac have become a regular sight on their daily rides on the outskirts of the South Island town of Invercargill, in New Zealand's deep south. Continue reading... |
| Rodrigo Duterte threatens to throw corrupt officials from helicopter – video Posted: 29 Dec 2016 02:31 AM PST President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte threatens to jettison corrupt government officials from his helicopter, stating 'I have done this before'. Visiting typhoon victims in Camarines Sur province on Tuesday, he also talks about his administration's continued war on drugs, saying he will 'personally gun down' dealers. Photograph: Erik de Castro/Reuters Continue reading... |
| 'Walking buses' and council housing: a wishlist for world cities in 2017 Posted: 29 Dec 2016 11:15 PM PST From post-Olympics Rio de Janeiro to unaffordable London, we hear from architects, activists and writers on how their cities should change in the next year As we're all too aware, 2016 has been a strange and news-packed year. For cities around the globe, it's been a year of challenges: worsening air pollution, increasing social divisions, community displacement, housing crises, resource shortages, environmental disasters and street violence – and for some, war and terrorism. But cities have also been the stage where desire for change has been articulated, from the Black Lives Matter protests across US cities to anti-government marches in Brazil and the Nuit Debout sit-ins across French cities. Meanwhile, some cities have taken the lead in battling climate change and promoting social integration. Continue reading... |
| The year's top development stories: 2016 in review Posted: 29 Dec 2016 11:00 PM PST El Niño and conflict brought hunger and fuelled migration, Zika and HIV needed the world's attention, and Donald Trump's election prompted fears over US policies on women and aid This year has been dominated by concerns about hunger and food security and increased migration as El Niño and conflict took their devastating toll. Zika was declared a public health emergency and world leaders met in Durban to discuss progress on reducing HIV. The UK got a new international development secretary, who immediately began to make waves, and the world speculated on what the US president-elect has in store for women and aid policies. |
| View from the favelas: 'The situation of instability haunts the lives of thousands' | Michel Silva Posted: 29 Dec 2016 03:31 AM PST In this diary entry, Michel Silva says mismanagement and corruption in Rio de Janeiro are behind an economic crisis and cuts that will hit the poorest hardest When I published my first article in the Guardian in August 2015, I warned readers that Rio de Janeiro was not ready for another mega-event. Two months after the 2016 Games, the state government of Rio de Janeiro announced a set of measures to balance the public accounts. According to the governor, Luiz Fernando Pezão, if the measures are not implemented, the state will have a deficit of 52bn reais ($15.3bn) by December of 2018. People here believe that public cuts will hit the poorest social classes and public workers hardest. The situation of instability due to mismanagement and corruption in Rio de Janeiro haunts the lives of thousands of people, mainly those who live in favelas. In Rocinha, we have not spoken about the Olympic Games for months. Construction projects promised under the Growth Acceleration Programme, which were funded by the federal government and should have been delivered in 2013, have not been completed. Because of the delay, the residents of Rocinha decided to sue the construction companies responsible on suspicion of corruption. Continue reading... |
| A visão das favelas: 'A instabilidade no Rio assombra a vida de milhares de pessoas' | Michel Silva Posted: 29 Dec 2016 03:30 AM PST No nosso diário da vida na Rocinha, Michel Silva diz que má gestão e corrupção estão por trás da crise económica e cortes públicos Quando publiquei meu primeiro artigo no The Guardian, em agosto de 2015, alertei aos leitores de que o Rio de Janeiro não estava preparado para outro megaevento. Dois meses após os Jogos Olímpicos de 2016, o governo do estado do Rio de Janeiro anunciou um conjunto de medidas para equilibrar as contas públicas. Segundo o governador Luiz Fernando Pezão, se as medidas não forem implementadas, a previsão é de um déficit de R$ 52 bilhões até dezembro de 2018. A população acredita que os cortes públicos atingirão as classes sociais mais pobres e os servidores públicos. Related: Jogos Olímpicos do Rio: A visão das favelas – 'A violência é empurrada às áreas mais pobres' Continue reading... |
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